Former BLM leader slams teachers' unions: 'They own our education system'
Rashad Turner, the founder of Black Lives Matter in St. Paul, Minnesota, addresses the recently released video in which he called out the group's 'ugly truth' regarding families and education.
Rashad Turner, the founder of the Black Lives Matter chapter in St. Paul, Minnesota, told "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday that he left the group for its failure to prioritize education - arguing it should be the focus when "doing what’s best for Black families."
Turner recently released a video in which he called out the group's "ugly truth" regarding their positions on family and education.
"In 2015, I was the founder of Black Lives Matter in St. Paul," said Rashad Turner, who now leads the pro-school choice group, Minnesota Parent Union.
"I believed the organization stood for exactly what the name implies – Black lives do matter. However, after a year on the inside, I learned they had little concern for rebuilding Black families," he added in the video published to YouTube last week.
In the video, Turner claimed Black Lives Matter "cared even less" about "improving the quality of education for students in Minneapolis," which he argued, "was made clear when they publicly denounced charter schools alongside the teachers' union."
In his appearance on "Fox & Friends First" Wednesday, Turner explained his recent comments with respect to the group, stating, "When you call for a moratorium on charter schools, that is a direct attack on Black families, on Black children."
He went on to say, "The question I always ask folks: How can Black lives matter if Black minds don’t matter?"
In his video, Turner argued that "the moratorium on charter schools does not support rebuilding the Black family, but it does create barriers to a better education for Black children."
BLM did not respond to Fox News' request for comment.
On Wednesday, Turner stressed that "if Black lives really matter, we must start in that classroom."
"If we are thinking about Black children, doing what’s best for Black families, we have to start with education," Turner continued. "There is not a disparity in this country that doesn’t begin with folks not being able to read — so if Black lives really matter, we must start in that classroom."
Turner went on to note his thoughts on the role teachers' unions are playing.
"BLM has been co-opted by teachers’ unions, specifically at the national level, the American Federation of Teachers and here locally in Minnesota, Education Minnesota," Turner said.
"These teachers’ unions own the Democrats," he continued. "They own BLM, and teachers’ unions, in my opinion, they kill our children’s hopes and dreams."
Spokespeople for the American Federation of Teachers and Education Minnesota did not respond to Fox News’ request for comment.
A school-choice advocate, Turner went on to argue that "anyone who is in opposition to school choice" is "racist."
"We know that charter schools are creating opportunities," Turner explained. "We know that that money that is supposed to be educating our children, that’s not happening here in Minnesota," he continued, noting that the "outcomes don’t show that we are spending millions upon millions of dollars to try to educate children."
Turner's comments touched on an ongoing criticism of BLM – namely that its goals and political positions are much more left-wing than the name might suggest.
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The group has acquired heightened popularity in the wake of prominent police encounters that sparked ongoing protests in recent years. Politicians and other leading figures have adopted the slogan as well.
Fox News’ Sam Dorman and Thomas Barrabi contributed to this report.
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